Path of Time
by Marta the Martial One
Summary: What if instead of Daein soldiers surrounding the Greil Mercenaries in Gebal Castle there were monsters from another world? It appears that their path will entwine with a certain hero from another land.
1. Chapter 1

Path of Time

Summary: What if instead of Daein soldiers surrounding Gebal Castle in Gallia, there were monsters from another world? It looks as if the Daein soldiers will become the least of their problems as the Greil Mercenaries meet a certain hero from another world.

Authors note: Yes, I understand that this will be quite different from my previous fanfic, During a Blizzard, but I love both games, so I decided to create a Path of Radiance and Zelda: Ocarina of Time fanfic. Hope no one minds. I don't really know yet how it will turn out, but I have a pretty good idea of where this will go. It obviously takes place shortly after Greil's death and Shinon and Gatrie leaving. I hope you read and enjoy.

And no, I do not own either Zelda or Fire Emblem.

---

It was a rather rainy and cold night. A female mage saw an old castle from within the forest from afar. After being separated from the merchants she traveled with and having to endure the cold all evening, she was relieved to have found shelter. Although she was fatigued, she immediately began running for the old castle.

"Hey, you!"

She stopped in her tracks, frightened. She turned to the soldiers clad in black as they approached her. What were they doing all the way in Gallia, and how had she neglected to see them?

"Are you fleeing Crimea?" one of the soldiers demanded.

"No, you d-don't understand!" she protested. "I was traveling with a group of merchants, and I was separated-!"

"Liar!"

"No, I'm not-!"

The girl was backhanded and she fell to the ground, dazed. She realized she had dropped her Elthunder tome and reached over to pick it up. When the soldiers seen what her book was, they immediately seized her and threw her at the feet of an armed man. She assumed he was the general as she looked up at him.

"We were going to just kill you for lying," he said coldly, looking down at her, "however, now I see you're a mage, you could actually be of some use to us despite your scrawniness."

The girl was too frightened to respond.

"I am General Kamura, and we are here on orders to destroy a wanted band of mercenaries, giving succor to Princess Crimea."

The mage had no idea what he was talking about. Princess Crimea? She didn't know about a Princess Crimea. In fact, as far as she was concerned, there was no Princess Crimea, but she knew better than to speak up. She listened instead.

"These sellswords are seeking shelter in that very castle," he explained, "and you, wench, are going either help us destroy those mercenaries... or I will put you to the sword."

As if to back his warning, the general unsheathed his sword and inched the blade closer and closer to her neck. Tears were running down her face as she realized she didn't have a choice. She didn't want to die.

"I-I'll... I'll... help you," she stammered, from both fear and the cold.

Before the general could respond, a loud, inhuman scream rigged the air. This caused her to instinctively cringe. She remained on the ground, trembling and holding her tome close to her chest.

"What was that?"

"I-I don't know... it didn't sound human!"

The mage heard the soldiers murmuring amongst themselves as she looked around. Apparently, they didn't know what the sound was either, but she had been hoping they somehow did. It was then she noticed that the soldiers were too busy looking around their surroundings to pay much attention to her. She stood up slowly to further take her surroundings in. No one was watching her. Even the general was distracted as he paced around nervously, sword shaking in his hand.

It was now or never.

She ran on ahead before she even thought about it, but escape was calling out to her. Unfortunately, some of the soldiers spotted her escaping, and they pursued her, eager to shed her blood for her defiance. She gasped as she ran. She wasn't used to running much, but she had to go over to that castle.

_Just a little further..._

Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her calf, and as pain shot up her leg, she tripped and fell down. She gritted her teeth as she slowly looked over and saw an arrow embedded in her calf. Blood was gushing out, but there was little she could do about her injury as she was uprooted by her hair.

"Thought you were gonna get away, didn't you, wench?"

She was backhanded once again, but this time, she remained on her feet as she stumbled backwards, and she managed to hold on to her tome. She opened her book, ready to attack them. She knew she was going to die, but she had nothing to lose.

She never got the chance to use her spell, however, when she saw a few large figures dashing from behind the trees, howling. The soldiers were attacked by those creatures before they could turn around. The creatures were wolf-like in appearence, but they were far larger than any wolf she had ever encountered.

The mage ran on ahead once again while the creatures were distracted. She could hear the bloodcurdling cries of some of the soldiers. Her leg hurt, but she had to get away fast.

It was then she heard rapid footsteps behind her. She whipped around and saw a lone wolf circling her. She readied her tome as she followed it with her eyes, never losing sight of it. The wolf then leapt at her, and as it stopped in front of her, it stood on two legs, which shocked her, but she was careful not to lose her concentration. She was determined to live through this. It towered above her started swiping wildly at her, and she jumped away from the brutal swipes. Because it had swung a little too wildly, it spun around and its back was exposed to her.

"Elthunder!"

The bolt struck the creature down, and it gave an agonizing howl as it was engulfed in green flames. How it happened, she didn't know, but she had no time to figure it out.

She ran on ahead. Her vision was blurring as she was closer to the castle.

_Almost there... just a little further... hang it there..._

She burst through the thicket and caught her on the stone wall. She gasped for air as she scooted herself along the wall.

She was so tired...

"Who's there?"

A knight clad in green armor began making his way toward her. The girl held her arm out as she limped over toward him.

"Please..." she rasped, "h-help..."

She then fell forward, but the man quickly caught her. The girl's eyes began to close. The knight shook her gently, but his demeanor was anything but calm.

"No, NO! Don't fall asleep! Stay awake!" he begged. "You have to stay awake!"

The girl's eyes fluttered open.

"I'm... sorry..."

"No, don't apologize. Just stay awake!"

A fighter, who apparently had just awakened from his sleep despite the fact he was supposed to be on watch along with his brother, came around the corner.

"Oscar, what are you-"

"Boyd! Get Rhys and the commander! Hurry!" he shouted frantically. "This girl's been injured!"

The fighter, startled at the amount of blood gushing out of the girl's leg, quickly ran inside the fort as the knight picked the girl up and rushed inside the fort, unaware of the shadows slowly materializing around the fort.

---

Phew. Done. Don't worry... Ilyana's not going to die... oops! Did I spoil that? As if you didn't know who she was! I'll edit this later if need be. Please read and review!


	2. Chapter 2

Path of Time

Author's Note: I honestly don't know what the heck inspired me to write a POR/LOZ crossover, but I suppose it comes from the fact that I really miss playing Ocarina of Time. Call it nostalgia, that's probably it. I am quite aware that this chapter came fast, but don't expect all updates to be this way. It will be rather sporadic. Some days, it may take only a day, and on other days... well, you know. School work and all that blah blah blah. By the way, just to warn you: this chapter may be filled with... well, stuff you would typically expect from horror movies. Other than that... enjoy!

---

Chapter One

The Greil Mercenaries, tired and dreary, were all nervous as they awaited the news on the mage girl's condition. Particularly Mist and Rolf, who weren't used to seeing that much blood. Mist felt rather nauseated. It grew to be very late, perhaps after midnight.

Rolf rubbed his eyes tiredly as he fought to stay awake, but the sound of the rain outside didn't exactly help.

The room was silent as the weary warriors sat nervously. Boyd tried to calm his nerves by perhaps swinging his axe around, but he couldn't get it out of his mind, and stopped after two swings. Normally, Titania would have scolded him for stopping short on his training, but not tonight. She either didn't notice it or she didn't care, but either way, she was too tired to pay much attention to what Boyd was doing.

Finally, after a few silent moments, Rhys and Ike came out of the room. Boyd and Oscar rushed over to the two men.

"Commander, the girl," Boyd said. "How is she?"

Ike looked at Rhys. He was obviously too tired to answer. Ever since his father's death, he hadn't gotten much rest, and it was taking its toll on him. Rhys, despite the fact that he looked just as weary as Ike, looked at the two brothers.

"She's going to be just fine," he said, smiling. "She's so small... but she's obviously much stronger than she looks."

When the two brothers didn't respond, he continued.

"Although she's very tired because she had lost a lot of blood, running on that leg. Fortunately, I managed to remove it, and her wound doesn't appear infected."

Oscar sighed.

"Thank goodness... I didn't think she'd make it, to be honest, but... I'm glad she'll be just fine."

"Did she happen to give her name?" Boyd inquired.

Rhys, Ike, and Oscar looked at him. Boyd frowned.

"What?"

Rhys sighed.

"Nothing, Boyd... anyway, her name is Ilyana, and apparently, she knows the merchants who are also staying here with us. They're in there with her right now."

Boyd nodded.

It was then Ike turned to look at Soren, who was unusually quiet. Mia, sitting next to where Soren was standing, stretched and yawned.

"That was some night," she said offhandedly.

Soren then turned to regard her, which was unusual.

"Yes, but I don't think we should rest easy just yet," he said.

Mia looked up at him.

"What do you mean? She's going to be safe, isn't she?"

"Yes, but... don't you think it's a bit unusual?"

Ike then walked over to Soren.

"What is?" he asked.

"That girl, Ilyana... Oscar carried her in with an arrow embedded in her leg, did he not?"  
Oscar nodded.

"Yes, but... I don't see why that should be a cause for..."

Boyd turned to look at Oscar as his eyebrows furrowed together.

"What's wrong?"  
Oscar frowned.

"The laguz don't use weapons if memory serves me correctly," he said observantly.

Soren nodded.

"Exactly. Even if Ilyana did have the means to arrive in Gallia as we had... she should not have came in with an arrow in her leg."

The thought then registered to Titania.

"Which may mean..."

Mia's eyes widened.

"You've gotta be kidding me! The Daeins are HERE in Gallia?!"

There was a gasp from the entire group, but Ike quickly diffused the situation.

"Oscar, Boyd, Titania, Soren. Move out now and find out where they're waiting!" he ordered hastily, as rage filled his mind. "Titania, you'll be in charge!"

Titania nodded.

"Yes, Commander!" she said, and the other three followed behind her in order to get their preparations ready.

Ike then turned to the rest.

"Mist, Rolf! Go into Ilyana's room and wait there until I say it's okay to come out!"

Rolf reluctantly obeyed, but Mist didn't budge.

"Mist, go!"

"But Ike..."  
"Mist, just do as I say, all right?!"

Mist, realizing it was useless to protest, could only nod as she then rushed into the room with Rolf.

Ike then turned to Mia and Rhys.

"I want you to be with me, just in case they're around the fort somewhere," Ike said, unsheathing his sword.

Mia seemed a little bugged out, but she managed a smile and nodded.

"Yes, Boss!"

Rhys, on the other hand, was a little nervous, as he wondered if Ike neglected to remember that he couldn't fight or defend himself. On the other hand, however, he figured it was much safer than the scouting mission he had sent Titania, Soren, and the two brothers on.

---

Boyd shivered from the cold rain drops running down his muscular arms as he ran to catch up with Oscar and Titania, who were on horseback. However, he decided to tough it out the moment he turned to see Soren, who didn't seem at all affected by the cold rain. After all, he didn't want Soren to think he was weak in anyway. He wanted to show them he was tough, especially Titania and Oscar, who always criticized him for supposedly being reckless in battle. He couldn't prevent his teeth from chattering, though. He just hoped that no one heard it.

Once they entered the forest, however, Oscar and Titania slowed their horses down and dismounted them, because they knew the sounds of galloping hooves would echo in the forest and therefore attract attention from the Daein soldiers. The four mercenaries looked around their surroundings warily, as they tried to find any hint of movement whatsoever. So far, there was no such luck, and this made each and every one of them nervous.

On one hand, the forest was completely quiet because of the rain, but on the other hand, Oscar knew that a quiet forest was bad news, and it didn't exactly help that the two factors of the rain and the presence of the Daein army accounted for the total silence, either. In fact, there weren't even locusts making a noise tonight.

Soren may not have showed it, but he felt that something wasn't right. Where were the Daeins? If they were in this part of the forest, why hadn't they attacked yet, considering this was only four mercenaries out of seven? Or were they truly deeper into the forest?

He hoped that was the case instead, but he knew it to be unlikely. After all, assuming that Ilyana had been captured then escaped, she was obviously attacked, and most likely the soldiers were made aware of the girl's escape. Did they simply let her go in order to lure them out, or- most unlikely- did she manage to kill the archer before he could sound the alarm?

He knew she wasn't a skilled mage, so he doubted that. Which must have left only the first...

Before Soren could think further about the possible situation, he heard a strange noise echoing throughout the forest. He stopped cold in his tracks. He could hear Boyd gasping nervously behind him as he rose his axe, desperately searching around for any signs of danger.

For all of his big talk, Boyd was terrified, as the combination of the rain and cold sweat ran down his forehead. Something about that noise just didn't seem... human.

The four warriors pressed their backs together, looking around warily. They didn't know what the noise was, but it didn't sound human. Oscar turned to look at his younger brother, who was frightened to the point where he was short on breath. Oscar desperately scanned his mind for something to say to calm Boyd, but he couldn't find anything, for he was just as scared.

As if it wasn't bad enough, both Titania and Oscar's horse began neighing in panic, rearing and trying desperately to back away. Titania knew better than to think this was normal behavior on the horse's part. They never even came close to behaving this way in front of enemies, so she didn't know why they were acting up now. It was then she saw a figure walking slowly toward them, but she knew instinctively something was wrong, because the moment the horses saw the figure, they started behaving even worse, almost to the point where she had to pull Oscar away before he was kicked in the head and knocked unconscious. Despite their panic, though, the horses stayed, seemingly torn between fear and their loyalty to their riders. When she squinted at the figure, she immediately saw why the horses were panicking at the sight of it. The figure looked like a mummified corpse. It was dragging its feet as it made its way toward them. Its eyes were gone. Instead, they were hollow eye sockets. It was moaning, seemingly in agony.

Clearly, the other three saw it too once their eyes adjusted, and Boyd's fear only increased. Soren opened his Wind tome, ready to attack, when he saw others walking slowly behind it.

"Deputy Commander..." Oscar said, raising his lance.

He didn't like the idea of fighting those creatures at all. He had no idea what they were, but he hated the idea of confronting them, not knowing anything about them. He wondered what Titania would do. He just hoped he could trust her judgement.

Titania turned to the others.

"Do not confront them!" she ordered. "We retreat!"

She and Oscar mounted their horses, and the mercenaries began making their escape, but they were quickly blockaded by even more of the seemingly undead creatures. Titania and Oscar's horses once again reared up. Quickly realizing they had no choice but to fight, they all readied their perspective weapons. Whether they wanted to or not, they had to fight their way through, but at the same time, they were too frightened to charge at the creatures.

Boyd, deciding he had enough of this, charged straight for the seemingly sluggish creatures. He hollered as he hacked away one of them with his axe. It was then he heard a piercing shriek from another one, and the moment he did, he stopped in mid-swing.

_I... can't move! Blast! I can't move! Why can't I move?! What's wrong with me? Move, body!_

The creature he was attacking then recovered and jumped on him. He shut his eyes, thinking it was all over, but Oscar, who managed to calm his horse down just long enough to move it, thrusted his lance at the creature. Fortunately for Boyd, the creature's flesh was too hard too penetrate, so Oscar managed to kill it without inadvertently harming his brother as well.

Soren raised his arm and let it down as his wind magic cut one of the creatures, but to his dismay, it barely made a dent on its body. Titania was attacking viciously as well with her axe, but she could only manage to dent it.

"What's going on?! Why can we not hurt them!" Soren shouted as he attacked again.

The only one who seemed to be causing any damage was Boyd, but even then, swinging his axe at the creatures was exhausting, as they were hard to cut into.

Soren looked around, trying to observe the situation. There were only about ten of these creatures, and out of all of them, only one was dead. They seemed to have both good resistance and they were nearly as hard to harm as a knight or general.

Once again, a scream rigged the air, and all four of them found themselves paralyzed. One quickly jumped first onto Soren and holding his neck, then bit him.

"Soren!" Boyd shouted before another one jumped on him.

Oscar and Titania were both struggling to move, but they were pulled off their horses by the rest of the creatures, and Oscar let out a gasp as he felt teeth sink into his neck. He tried to push the creature off, but his strength was seemingly gone and could only tightly grip onto the creature's head.

Titania, seeing Oscar near her, tried to reach out and help him, but she also found herself too weak to do any more than reach her arm out. It was then she realized the reason why: her life's blood was being sucked out of her body, and although the creature hadn't even come close to drinking all of it, she could already feel drowziness overcome her body.

_The Commander... entrusted me with Oscar, Boyd, and Soren's lives, and I've failed to... help them... Commander Ike... forgive me..._

Titania closed her eyes, preparing to die, when she heard a footstep splashing through the puddles of the wet ground. Her eyes instinctively opened, just in time for a figure to viciously slash away at the creature sucking her blood. Then what she saw amazed her. Unlike her and the others, he easily pierced through the creature's flesh, and it died, struggling to stand. The figure then thrusted its sword down and impaled the one attacking Oscar. It then rushed to Boyd's side and took care of the creature attacking him, then it eliminated Soren's attacker.

To Titania's relief, all three of them were all right, as they sat up, holding their necks then looking at their apparent savior. They couldn't quite see the figure in the dark, but they knew he was a young man, perhaps of the same age as Ike.

"Are you all right?" he asked as the mercenaries slowly stood up.

Boyd rubbed his neck painfully.

"Yeah, I think I'll manage," he responded. "You couldn't have come at a better time! Thank you!"

The figure shrugged.

"Don't mention it."

Boyd then looked questioningly at the figure.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Link, but there's no time to explain. There is even more of them in this forest!" the man, Link replied. "Are there people in that old castle?"

Titania nodded.

"Yes. There are merchants, children, and some of the members our mercenary company."  
Link was apparently alarmed.

"We don't have time to lose! You have to get out of here!" he warned.

Titania, understanding the seriousness of the situation, nodded.

"Understood! Oscar, Boyd, Soren!"

After Titania and Oscar mounted their horses, the mercenaries headed for the castle, along with Link, who had already ran on ahead.

---

Mia and Ike stood protectively over Rhys, who had been thrown brutally against the wall by a shadow. The priest was unconscious. The shadow stood there, almost as if waiting to see what the swordsman and swordswoman would do. Mia was enraged as she rose her sword. She then charged straight for the shadow, but it dodged her and started moving along the walls rapidly. It then charged for the swordswoman.

"Mia!" Ike shouted, as he charged straight for her, in a futile attempt to save her.

However, the moment the shadow attempted to strike Mia, it was paralyzed in its tracks as a red light flashed around her. She struck it with her sword, but to her dismay, her sword fazed right through it.

"What?!" she shouted in dismay.

The shadow laughed.

_"I'm impressed, wench. I hadn't expected you, out of all people, to possess a skill such as this," _the shadow taunted. _"Unfortunately for you... you only possess an ordinary weapon. Without a sacred blade, you don't stand a chance."_

The shadow then violently uprooted Mia by the neck and squeezed tightly. She tried in vain to pry the fingers off, but her fingers only fazed through it. She began kicking and flailing her legs as her oxygen was cut off. Ike was enraged.

"Let her go!"

Despite the fact he knew his sword would probably faze right through the shadow just as Mia's had, he didn't care, as he was desperate to save her. Just as he predicted, his blade went through it. The shadow laughed again.

_"You are an incredibly dull-witted boy..."_

Ike was then uprooted by the neck just as Mia had, but the shadow, apparently losing interest in Mia, sent her flying. She crashed into a table and knocked it over. She moaned and tried to stay conscious, but the pain was too much for her, and she fell unconscious.

Despite the fact he was suffocating, Ike was more concerned about Rhys and Mia than about his own life.

"Rhys..." he rasped. "M-Mia..."

_"Ha ha ha ha ha ha... you actually remind me of someone..."_

Ike was thrown against the wall, but not as brutally as Rhys had been earlier. Ike raised his head slowly, only to see the shadow towering above him. The shadow reached its arm down, and Ike flinched, preparing to be strangled again. Instead, the shadow grabbed him roughly by the chin and forced him to look into its red eyes. After looking at him for a moment, the shadow then laughed, and Ike's eyes widened as he wondered what the shadow could have possibly thought was so funny.

_"Oh, I remember now," _the shadow said, with amusement. _"I recognize that look of determination anywhere... I believe the boy is just your age... ha ha ha ha ha ha... How ironic. I escape from that place, end up here... I thought I would be free. How ironic, however, that I would happen to meet a boy who has the same characteristics as the very hero who had defeated me..."_

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ike said through gritted teeth, struggling to stand.

The shadow laughed again.

_"No, you wouldn't have a clue, would you, boy? How brutally honest of you... ha ha ha ha ha ha..."_

Ike gritted his teeth.

_"Say good-bye, boy... you may be a rookie, but if I let you live, just like I had made a mistake with that boy who defeated me, you may find a way to overthrow me. I can't let that happen."_

Ike, too weak to defend himself, cringed as light gathered in the shadow's hand. He knew this was it. He was going to join his parents soon, even he had promised his father he would protect the company... and Mist...

"Ike!"

Ike looked up at the mention of his name, and when he looked up, he saw his sister standing bravely in front of him, staring defiantly at the shadow.

"Mist! Run away! Don't stay!" Ike desperately shouted.

Mist turned to her brother.

"I'm not leaving you, Ike!" she shouted. She turned to Mia and Rhys, who were still unconscious. "I won't abandon Rhys, Mia... or anyone!"

She then stared defiantly at the shadow, who seemed surprised.

"You're going to have to go through me... I won't let you touch my brother!"

The shadow hesitated, staring at the girl, trying to scan in memory who exactly she reminded her of...

_Princess Zelda..._

Just hearing that name in his head angered him. Just as he hated the hero who defeated him, he also held a special vendetta against the very girl who...

The shadow then laughed.

_"You... maiden... you also remind of that girl... I won't even give you a chance to survive. Neither you nor that boy..."_

Despite the fact the shadow was ready to throw his light at her, Mist stood bravely in front of her brother. She didn't plan to escape and abandon him. She was getting tired of being left behind and constantly having to worry about him and the other mercenaries. Even though Ike was her only living relative now, she came to accept the other mercenaries as her family. She thought of all the ones she loved dearly... Titania, Oscar, Boyd, Rolf... Rhys, Soren, and even though she barely knew Mia and only knew Ilyana's name, she had also already come to accept Miaand Ilyana as new additions to her ever-increasing family... Even if she had wanted to, she couldn't leave her family behind, however distant her relationships which each member may be. If she was going to die like this... so be it.

"MIST!!!" Ike screamed, oblivious to the fact that his own life was in danger.

Suddenly, an arrow of light pierced through the shadow before it could complete the light spell. The shadow fell to the ground, crumpled. Mist looked up and saw the others. She smiled.

"Titania! Oscar, Boyd, Soren! You're all right!"

The four of them were standing behind a stranger dressed in a green tunic and a strange green hat. Mist gawked at the stranger, not because of his strange appearence, but because he had potentially saved their lives. The man gritted his teeth after looking around and seeing Mia, Rhys, and Ike, all injured. He pulled out another arrow. The shadow rose to its feet and turned to look at the green-clad stranger. It then squinted its red eyes at him.

_"You..."_

Then to everyone's surprise but the stranger's, the shadow then transformed into a tall, dark man with red hair and yellow eyes. He was heavily armored and dressed in garments that none of the mercenaries had even dreamed of. He scowled at the stranger.

"How did you follow me to this land?" he demanded.

The stranger wasted no time readying his bow.

"I followed you, thanks to my ocarina. That's what," he retorted before he released the arrow.

The dark man swatted the arrow aside as if it was merely a pestering fly. He then smirked and laughed.

"I've been waiting to wreak revenge on you, boy," he said. "But it looks as if you had conveniently come to me."

The stranger rolled his eyes.

"What are you waiting for? Let's take this elsewhere and leave these people out of it."

The dark man then laughed.

"Oh no... I cannot do that. In fact... I rather look forward to seeing you again... but now isn't the time."

The stranger's eyes squinted.

"What do you mean?"  
The dark man smirked.

"Didn't you hear? There's a war going on in this world. It is most unspeakable in our own land of Hyrule, for that land is full of peace. This land of Tellius, on the other hand, has merely started the war a few days ago."

He turned to look at Ike, who had by now stood at the other side of the room, standing protectively in front of his sister.

"Isn't that right?"

Ike gritted his teeth, but didn't answer.

"Judging by that scowl on your face, the answer is quite obviously, yes."

Soren, growing impatiently, nearly charged forward, but Link held his arm in front of the mage.

"Enough already of your gloating!" Soren shouted across the room. "What could you possibly seek here?!"

The dark man laughed.

"I have heard of a certain medallion that will unleash the dark god if this whole world of Tellius is engulfed in the war... I want that power so I could rule Tellius just as I had once ruled Hyrule... until a certain BRAT defeated me."

Seeing the confused looks on everyone's faces, he laughed.

"Not that any of you would know anything about it," he laughed. "After all, you are all rather ignorant."

"What was that, scum bag?!" Boyd shouted, and he proceeded to charge, but once again, Link held him back just as he had done Soren.

The man laughed, to Boyd's expense.

"Anyway... Link, you would let me escape, if you don't wish for any of these... sellswords to be harmed. Otherwise..."

Seemingly to demonstrate his point, he rose his hand, and then Mist was encased in a diamond prism.

"Mist!" Ike shouted as the prism, containing Mist, hovered over the dark man.

Link gritted his teeth.

"You vile-!"

"You'll cooperate, then?"  
Link slowly lowered his sword and his bow.

"Yes... just don't hurt her."

The dark man shrugged.

"All right."

With a jerk of his head, the prism then slowly lowered, and vanished. Mist fell to the ground and quickly scrambled over to her brother's side. The dark man then laughed as he turned into a shadow and vanished. There was silence all around the room except for the sound of the rain outside.

"Are you all right?" Link asked Mist.

The girl nodded.

"Yes... I-I'm fine. Thank you."

Link then turned to Ike.

"Are you the leader of this band?" he asked.

Ike nodded.

"Yes."

"It's not safe for us to stay here any longer. We have to leave quickly."

Ike cast his face down in thought as he remembered that they were supposed to have waited for a messenger from the King of Gallia. On the other hand, however, the safety of his mercenary band came first and forthmost.

"Understood."

Ike turned to Oscar and Boyd.

"Tell Rolf it's safe to come out."

Oscar nodded.

"Understood, Commander."

Oscar then grabbed Boyd by the arm and came into the room where Rolf and the merchants were hiding. Ike and Soren then went to check on Rhys and Mia. Soren, bending down next to Rhys, turned to Ike.

"He's fine," he assured Ike, who looked up after checking Mia.

Link made his way over to them.

"Stand aside. I have something to wake them up."

Soren raised his eyebrows questionably at Link, but stood aside as he took out a bottle, containing a glowing light. Mist's eyes widened.

"What is that?"

"It's a fairy. Just watch her at work."

Link opened the bottle, and the fairy flew out and after hovering over Rhys, then flew rapidly in circles around him, sprinkling dust on him. Rhys moaned and his brown eyes opened.

"Uhn... C-Commander?"

Ike held him up.

"You'll be okay Rhys, I promise."

Ike then slung Rhys' arm over his shoulder and helped him up. When he let Rhys go, the priest was a little wobbly on his feet, but with a shake of his head, he was all right. When he looked over, he saw Mia still unconscious.

"Oh no... Mia!"

Link held up his arm, and Rhys calmed down as the fairy then flew over Mia and after sprinkling dust on her, the swordswoman opened her eyes.

"Oooh..."

Ike held her up.

"Are you all right?"  
Mia's green eyes widened.

"I don't I'm going to be able to sleep well with all the... Wait, I'm not even injured."

The swordswoman helped herself up and dusted herself off.

"What just happened?"  
Link was rather surprised by her perky attitude.

"We'll have to explain it later. Right now, we have to get out of here as soon as possible."

Mia's eyes widened as she looked at the stranger. She giggled.

"Commander Ike, since when did you hire him?"

Ike shook his head at the same time Link did.

"Um... Mia... actually, we just met him. He's the one who-!"

Mia smiled.

"Wow! You saved us from that shadow thing? You must be pretty tough to deal with that thing, I couldn't even hurt it!" she giggled girlishly.

Link looked at Ike, who in turn shrugged.

"Mia... just pack your stuff for now," Ike commanded.

"Yessir!"

The girl then ran on ahead to pack her stuff, and the room went quiet. A few moments later, the mercenaries were ready to go, and they quietly left the fort before the sun even came close to rising. Once they were out of the forest and onto an open place, they knew they were safe for now.

---

Whoo! That was soooo long! Anyway, to explain the part when Mia tried to attack the shadow. I was imagining how Vantage would work in real life situation, and that was what I came up with. I'm sorry if that was a little lame, but that's how I honestly believe Vantage would work.

And as for the little flirtation between Link and Mia... no, I am not trying to pair them up. It's just... in every Zelda game I've played, from Ocarina of Time and up, there are ALWAYS potential suitors for Link, so I decided to let that in there. Heh heh heh. Did you honestly think I would forget to add Link's seeming tendency to attract girls all over? And if you think that's bad... wait until he meets Marcia next chapter! MWA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!! I'm going to enjoy torturing poor Link!

Once again... please read and review! I know there are Zelda fans out there!


	3. Chapter 3

Path of Time

Author's Note: I know I said they were going to meet Marcia this chapter, but... well, they have to get to know each other someway. shrugs So think of this as a filler chapter, where Link gets to know everyone individually. I wouldn't want this to be impersonal, after all. But I do promise for sure they will meet her... and of how she reacts to him. Heh heh heh... it will be torture time next chapter for sure!

---

Chapter Three

The mercenaries had since been resting as they camped out. They had most certainly never fought enemies like that before.

"Are you sure we are safe here?" Ike asked Link, who apparently knew more about what kind of creatures they were than they did.

Link nodded.

"If I'm right, we should be," Link answered, looking at the young commander.

"Should be?" Boyd cut in. "_Should _be?! No, I want to know for certain if we are!"

Boyd pointed behind himself.

"I don't want to have to fight those things ever again, nor would I want to meet that sorcerer guy by myself!"

Link shook his head.

"Don't worry. They don't roam onto the fields."

Boyd sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness. After all, I wouldn't want pee-wee here to wet his pants from fear because of those things."

Rolf scowled at him and then kicked him in the shin. Boyd let out a holler.

"Ouch! What did you do that for?!"

"First of all, I told you NOT to call me 'pee-wee' and secondly-" Rolf kicked him again, causing Boyd to holler, "if anyone's going to wet his pants, it would be you! After all, you kept looking around the forest as we escaped, Boyd!"

Boyd gritted his teeth.

"Why you..."  
Link stepped in front of Boyd before he could go near Rolf.

"That's enough."

Boyd folded his arms across his chest as Rolf peered around Link and stuck his tongue at him. Boyd did it right back. Oscar sighed and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index, seemingly from embarrassment.

"I'm sorry about that," the older knight apologized. "My brothers usually do this when they're under stress."

Link shook his head.

"It's not your fault."

Soon, the mercenaries were sitting around the campfire, knowing that they probably wouldn't be sleeping tonight because of the circumstances. At first, it was entirely silent, save for Mia humming quietly to herself. Finally, the purple-haired myrmidon couldn't take it any more. It was too quiet for her.

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves to you," Mia said, hoping that Link would take the bait.

Link's eyes widened as he looked at each and every single member, from Ike to Titania and Soren, to Mist, to the three brothers, to Rhys, to Mia, and to the female mage, Ilyana, who had decided to sit with the mercenaries, since they had saved her earlier.

"You're right," Link responded as everyone realized that in the midst of everything, they didn't even know his name, save for Titania, Boyd, Oscar, and Soren. However, they doubted if he knew theirs.

Ike cast his head down.

"I apologize. I didn't even think of it," Ike said. "I am Ike, leader of the Greil Mercenaries."

It was then Link learned each individual's name: Ike, Titania, Soren, and Ike's sister, Mist. Then there were the others: Oscar the elder, Boyd the middle, and Rolf the youngest brother. Then there was Rhys, Mia, and Ilyana, who was the newest member of the Greil Mercenaries.

After the introductions, Mia sat even closer to Link, but he was oblivious to this. Rhys, on the other hand, especially noticed but chose not to say anything, for fear of embarrassment. The last thing he wanted to do was make Link uncomfortable around them.

The entire camp was silent again as the ten mercenaries were still confused from the night's events.

"That sorcerer back there... how do you two know each other?" Soren interrogated suddenly, causing everyone to turn and look. "After all, it was rather convenient that we were attacked by presumably his minions, then you come out of nowhere and save us, being a hero, right?"

Oscar frowned.

"Soren, please. This really isn't the time..."

"This is the perfect time, Oscar," Soren said curtly, staring straight at Link. "We are safe and out of danger, as far as we're concerned, so now is the perfect time."

Soren scowled.

"Isn't it, Link?"

Link was rather startled by Soren's coldness. He had figured earlier that he was the silent type. However, that was only an impression. When Link didn't respond, Soren continued.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? You don't expect me to believe that the creatures, your appearence, and the shadow were all merely coincidence, do you? The others may be absolutely thankful that you had come to save us, but it is all very suspicious to me. Do you have something to say to us in your defense? After all, not many beorc come here in Gallia, especially with all the sub-humans that live here."  
Link's eyes widened.

"...Sub-humans?"

Soren nodded as the others shifted uncomfortably. Boyd looked as if he was ready to pounce on Soren, but after Ike touched his shoulder, he reluctantly calmed down.

"Yes. We all originally came here to Gallia so we could seek sanctuary for Princess Elincia, and as far as we know, she is safe. It was all very circumstancial for us to come here, after all."

Soren then squinted his red eyes.

"I told you the reason we're in Gallia. Now it is your turn to explain to us what you are doing here and your link to that sorcerer."

Link sighed. He was hoping he could avoid this, but it appeared as if he had no choice. After all, they had been caught up in the middle of his battle with the sorcerer. He knew he had to tell them the truth. He wasn't sure if they would believe him, but it was worth a try. Apparently, they didn't have monsters in their world like his did, so there was on reason for them to disbelieve him. He sighed.

"First of all, everyone, don't be angry with Soren," he said, noticing the looks on everyone's faces, "he's right. I shouldn't keep the true reason I'm here from you. You had all been caught up in the middle of it, so I guess I owe it to tell you. I don't know if you'll believe my tale, but... you have no reason to discredit it either."

Titania nodded.

"All right. We're ready."

Ilyana, Mist, and Rolf scooted closer to the campfire, not wanting to be left out. Ilyana rested her chin on her knees and looked at Link. After all, she wanted to be included too.

Link sighed again.

"The name of that sorcerer... is Ganondorf. Seven years ago, he had taken over my homeland of Hyrule while I was asleep for seven years.

"There was darkness all over Hyrule when I had awakened at last from a long sleep. Thanks to the seven sages and Princess Zelda... I've managed to defeat him and imprison him. I had gone back seven years in time and lived in peace... and now seven years later, again, he managed to break free. He had come to confront me. Ganondorf wanted revenge, and we had fought."

Link cast his eyes to the fire.

"He had defeated me because I didn't have the one sword that could defeat him. I had almost died that day. I didn't know it at the time, but when he had defeated me, he then opened up a dimensional gate, using a power he had taken from me and Princess Zelda, to then escape into your world.

"When I came to, I was informed by the sages who assisted me that Ganondorf had already defeated Zelda and escaped into a world called Tellius. So I grabbed the blade I had used to defeat Ganondorf, my ocarina, and followed him here. I had been sent to deliver this world of Ganondorf's evil."

Link then turned to see the reactions of each mercenary. Even Soren, who had doubted his motives only moments ago, seemed to believe his story. He didn't know if he should have told the mercenaries about the medallion yet. It was obvious that none of them knew anything about it, but according the sage, Rauru, the medallion contained the dark god of this land, and if it was released, then the world would be in danger. That was the only information he was given so far, so he didn't know about it either other than what he was told by the sage.

"It appears you have a journey ahead of you," Titania said. "What are you going to do, though?"

Link didn't even hesitate.

"I'm not much of a sociable person," Link said, "but... I'll travel with you for a while. After all, Ganondorf may come back for you, Ike, and Mist. If that time came... without the sacred sword of light, none of you can even harm him."

Mia folded her arms across her chest.

"No wonder I couldn't hurt him when I attacked. I thought it was because I wasn't strong enough to defeat him."

Link turned to her.

"No matter how competent of a fighter you may be, only I can defeat him, because I'm the only one who can wield this sword."

Link then unsheathed his sword to show them. Rolf's eyes widened as he stood up to take a closer look at the sword.

"It's so... bright," Rolf said.

He was right. The light of the sword shined and lit the darkness.

"Wow. So only you can wield that sword?" Mia asked, scooting entirely too close to Link.

Rhys' eyes widened as he saw the pass that Mia was making at Link.

"Yes," Link answered, oblivious, "this was the very sword I had used to defeat Ganondorf."

"Wow. You must have been quite the swordsman to be named as the Hero of Time."

Rhys was starting to gnash his teeth together, and Link looked up to see Rhys tensing up.

"Rhys, are you all right?" he asked.

Mia turned to look at him, followed by curious stares from the others. Even Oscar and Titania turned to look at him. Rhys' face brightened red.

"Actually, I'm... uh... I'm going to catch up on whatever hours are left of sleep."

On that note, the priest then got up and walked toward the wagon where the merchants were. Ike then looked at Boyd, who shrugged at him in return. Titania then stood.

"It may actually be a good idea for us to take advantage the last hours of the night," she advised. "Otherwise, we'll never be able to function fully."

The others then turned to one another.

"One of us will have to be on watch," Ike said, turning to everyone.

"I'll be on look-out," Ilyana volunteered. "I did get more sleep than any of you did."

Ike looked at her.

"But your injury..."

"I owe you thanks for saving me, Commander Ike. You cared for me, and I want to pay you back."

Ike shook his head.

"No, I don't want..."

Link touched his shoulder.

"I'll be on look-out. Get some rest. You will all need it."

Oscar looked at him.

"What about you? You cannot function well with a lack of sleep either."

Link looked at Oscar. He knew that arguing with him would be difficult, because from what he saw of Oscar, he was kind but could be stubborn. Before he could proceed to explain to Oscar that he normally stayed up whole nights, Rauru's voice spoke to him.

_"Link, go get some rest for now. We will look out for you and the Greil Mercenaries. No shadows are near, and you are in no danger."_

Link then turned to Oscar.

"You already look as if you'll fall over. In the morning, I can sleep in the wagon."

Oscar nodded.

"Very well."

Oscar then got up, and he was walking slightly unsteadily. Link knew that he was definitely exhausted. Ike and Boyd then followed Oscar. When Link turned to look at the remaining mercenaries, Soren and Ilyana were already gone, while Mist and Rolf were sleeping, nestled up against Oscar and Titania's horses. Mia was the last to go. She winked at Link.

"Well, good night. I guess we'll... see you in the morning."

She then walked away, and Link blinked. After he was certain that everyone had gone to sleep, he walked over to a nearby tree and after sitting under it, he closed his eyes as he leaned his back against the tree.

---

An orange cat and blue tiger rushed over to Gebal Castle and looked around. The cat sniffed around and looked at the tiger. They then reverted to humanoid form and turned to each other.

"They're gone..." the tiger man said. "Where have they gone?"

The cat woman scowled.

"Humph. Typical humans. They couldn't stand the thought of being accompanied by 'sub-humans', so they abandoned their princess."

He looked at her.

"I do not think so."

"Why not? Mordecai, give me one good reason not to..."

She paused as she sniffed the air. Her ears then twitched. They could hear agonized moaning. The cat woman started growling as her tail thrashed wildly.

"What is that stench?"  
The tiger man looked at the cat woman.

"Lethe, it is best we retreat. The mercenaries have already left. We should not stay here much longer."

Lethe nodded.

"Right. There's no need to stick around. As long as Princess Crimea's mercenaries are gone..."

"I have their scent... although the scent of one is strange."

Lethe squinted.

"You're right. We must find them."

Without another word, Lethe and Mordecai then transformed and quickly ran out.

---

Looks like Mia's getting her flirt on! Oooh... once again, I don't really plan to make her and Link an official couple. I'm just having a little fun, that's all. In other news, it looks as if they'll be meeting Lethe and Mordecai next chapter, as well as Marcia. I've already screwed up time a little bit too... or did I? Oh well. That's we all get when someone from a parallel world intrudes in! Chapter Nine's going to be unusual. Once again, read and review!


	4. Chapter 4

Path of Time

Author's Note: Sorry to have kept anyone waiting, but you know how school work is... anyway, I guess this story isn't turning out as great as I had originally thought... oops. Oh well. Regardless... I'm continuing, and there's nothing anyone can do about it! The few who did take the time to read and review, I thank you. Once again, I had thought that Marcia would appear in this chapter, but I guess not. No, I'm doing to the laguz first, THEN the real fun will start. This might be short compared to the other chapters, but once again, I have to get this whole thing out of the way. Just bear with me, okay? I don't really like to do excessively long chapters if I can help it.

---

Chapter Four

"Some job you're doing serving as a look-out, Link."

The blond man was startled awake by a voice. He blinked his eyes tiredly before turning to look at Boyd and Oscar. Boyd was leaning his back against the tree, smirking at him. Oscar smiled in greeting.

"Oh, good morning," he greeted.

Link blinked again before looking up at the sky. It was late in the morning, and he realized that most of the members of the mercenaries must have overslept from the hectic night. His eyes widened as he bolted up and jumped to his feet. Oscar chuckled.

"Don't look so worried, Link," Oscar assured him, "Titania and Soren had to wake all of us up, too. Boyd and I just thought we should get to you before they did."

Link looked at the older man.

"Thank you for your consideration."

Boyd shrugged.

"Don't mention it, slacker," Boyd said, "I mean, it's a miracle we didn't get attacked during the night by any more of those zombie creatures or any surprise Daein soldiers."

Link rolled his eyes.

"Just ignore him, Link," Oscar advised. "I would have the feeling you would have stayed awake if you had thought we would be attacked otherwise."

It was then a horse rode up to them. The rider looked at them.

"You're lucky the brothers woke you up first," Titania said sternly.

Despite the seriousness of her tone, she was actually smiling in greeting.

"Anyway, Commander Ike wants you over there as soon as possible," she informed them before riding off.

Oscar rubbed in his chin in thought.

"I wonder if the commander has come to a decision about what to do," Oscar murmured. "We were supposed to have waited at Gebal Castle for a messenger, but under the circumstances..."

Oscar trailed off and began heading for the other mercenaries. Boyd yawned and rubbed his eyes before following his elder brother. Link, who had nothing else to do, followed the brothers to see what Ike was meeting them about.

When he entered the crowd, he saw two beings that were unlike any he had seen before. There was a cat woman with light orange hair and green shirt, and there was a tiger man with pale blue hair and a blue shirt. He decided not to draw attention amongst himself and stood in the back of the others.

The cat woman looked at the mercenaries rather impatiently.

"Which one of you is the commander?" she demanded.

The others drew back, seemingly in fear, but Ike stepped forward.

"I am," he answered. "I apologize for leaving Gebal Castle, but under the circumstances, we couldn't because we were-!"

The woman hissed.

"I know that! I could hear the howls of those strange creatures, and Mordecai and I had even ran into them on the way out, but they were nothing we couldn't handle."

She squinted.

"You beorc, on the other hand, couldn't even effectively fight against them, could you? No, it's all because you're weaklings."

Ike looked confused.

"Beorc? What are they?"  
The cat smirked.

"That's what you are," she answered, obviously proud of herself, "you soft hairless things with no power are beorc, and we with the power are laguz."

The tiger man shook his head at her.

"Lethe, now is not the time..."

"Humph. Sub-humans... you have to utter that hateful word," she growled, "Are we really so little to you?!"

Ike sighed.

"Yes, I'm aware that people say that word far too readily," he said, clearly trying to disperse the situation, "if we knew any other word for you, we would call you by the name you prefer."

Lethe squinted her eyes in anger, and Link was getting agitated.

"Are we really so little to you, human?"

Mordecai sighed.

"Lethe..."

Just when Link thought it couldn't be any worse, Soren then stepped up.

"So what's your point? Did you come all this way to complain to us?" Soren asked impatiently.

Then he smirked.

"Ha ha ha... typical sub-humans."

Link gawked.

_What in Din's name does he think he's doing, _his mind screamed frantically, horrified.

Lethe growled.

"Anyone who utters that word is an enemy!"

When Link looked at Mordecai, to his horror, the seemingly gentle giant was baring his fangs, which seemed to elongate from his mouth.

"Enemy..." he growled. "He is enemy..."

With a howl, he then transformed into a giant blue tiger. The giant tiger growled, and saliva dripped out of his mouth as he stared dead at Soren.

"Mordecai, kill him!" Lethe shouted, and the tiger, eager for blood, then bounded straight for the frail mage. Ike ran out in front of him, but in the creature's berserk rage, Link knew that with one swipe of a paw, Mordecai could easily break a bone. Link readied his shield.

"Look out!"

He charged forward, straight at the tiger and raised his shield just as the creature smited the shield from Link's hand. Link gasped as the shield flung from his fingers and slid away. Link had thought that the creature would stop, but instead, in sheer rage, the tiger turned to him.

"L-Link! No!" Mist was heard screaming as the tiger began charging for him.

Mordecai pounced, but Link rolled out of the way with his lithe and small body. He picked up his shield just in time to avoid the brutal swipe, but this time, with his own might, he pushed against Mordecai's paws and then tossed him aside. Mordecai slid on his feet as he scooted backwards.

Lethe was shocked at the sight of a small human easily shoving Mordecai aside.

Mordecai quickly reverted back to his humanoid form, clearly horrified by what he had tried to do.

Ike rushed over to Link.

"Link, are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm unharmed."

Ike then turned to Mordecai.

"I-Ike... I had tried to kill one of your friends... and he has done nothing to me. I am so sorry."  
Link stepped forward.

"First of all, know that I'm not here to cause any conflict between the beorc and laguz," he said, "the situation had gotten out of hand, and I was simply diffusing the situation. No one was harmed. So all is forgiven, Mordecai."

It was then both beast tribes noticed that there was something different about Link. He was no beorc, nor did he appear to be a laguz.

Lethe sighed.

"I apologize as well," she said reluctantly. "We had digressed long enough."  
Ike looked interested.

"Yes?"  
"King Gallia would like to see you, and we are your guides."

Link quickly walked away to take a rest. He knew that he had done his part.

---

Yeah, I changed that part a little. If Link can pick up an impossibly huge boulder, then I'm sure he can pick up Mordecai and just throw him, and he's got the biggest build (except Nasir when he's transformed). Anyway, I'm sure Marcia will appear next chapter for sure! Once again, read and review.


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